The Value of Personal Projects for Photographers
For as long as I can remember, in my professional life as a photographer, I’ve always had a personal project that I was working on. I’d either be thinking about an idea that I wanted to explore or I’d be actively producing and shooting something. I never felt that I had to do personal projects. I did them because I wanted to.
Taking/making photographs has never been just a job for me. It’s not something that I look forward to retiring from. It’s something that makes me feel like I am “on purpose” and living the life I am meant to live. It’s also how I communicate and connect with people. That brings me joy especially when my imagery creates awareness or provokes thought.
One summer, early in our careers, my husband/partner and I decided to photograph the Jersey Shore.
![Jersey Shore](https://kellymooneyminutes.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/kmp_rm_f_new_jersey_0011.jpg?w=636)
We shot every weekend that summer, from the perspective of a bicycle, as we peddled our way through different towns along the shore. We spent one memorable afternoon in Wildwood taking portraits of all sorts of people, in front of the graphic facade of a fun house. Some of those images created decades ago, still resonate in a timeless way.
There are very few images that I am still drawn to decades after I shoot them. Most of the images with staying power were shot on personal projects. Those images came from a personal place, my unique way of seeing the world at that point in time.
![Gail - NJ Shore](https://kellymooneyminutes.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/gailbeach-copy.jpg?w=636)
Those are the images that still speak to me and resonate with others.
I’m not quite sure I could come up with an exact dollar value on the personal projects I have done. Many have been monetized in in a variety of ways. But the true value goes far deeper than the pocketbook.
What am I working on now? Check it out.
Filed under: Inspirational, Personal Stories, Photography, Story telling, Travel, Women Tagged: Jersey Shore, Passion, photographer, Photography, Self-Initiated Projects, Story telling
Read more at: Journeys of a Hybrid
The Value of Personal Projects for Photographers
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